Southern Copper Unions to Strike Dec. 24 as Wage Talks Fail

Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Workers at Southern Copper Corp.,
the largest producer of the metal in Peru, plan their first
strike in four years on Dec. 24 after wage talks broke down, a
union official said.

Unions from the company’s Cuajone and Toquepala copper
mines and Ilo smelter presented the date at the Labor Ministry
today after the company refused to accept a request for a 15
percent annual pay rise, smelter union official Ricardo Juarez
said. The Phoenix-based company, which is seeking a four-year
accord, offered a 5.5 percent annual wage increase, he said.

“The company has dug in its feet and refuses to make a
better offer,” Juarez said in a telephone interview from Lima.
“It’s regrettable that Christmas will be soured for both
workers and the company.”

Workers in Peru, Bolivia and Chile have held work stoppages
at copper, zinc, iron and gold mines this year to seek a bigger
percentage of company earnings. Peru’s Mining Federation plans a
national strike in February. Southern Copper workers last held a
strike in 2008.

The company is prepared to renew negotiations with union
officials, Alberto Giles, a spokesman, said.

“The will for dialogue is always there,” Giles said in a
telephone interview from Ilo, Peru. “We’re now waiting for the
conciliation process” brokered by the Labor Ministry, he said.

Southern Copper, which also operates mines in Mexico, plans
to invest $2.1 billion in upgrades and a new mine in Peru in a
bid to double annual output to more than 1 million metric tons.
Peru is the world’s largest copper producer after Chile.